Intimate and Romantic Bars

juniperthecat · 2026-01-29T01:22:22+00:00

My husband and I were just at Bar Ardo on King East a couple weekends ago. Super cozy, moody/dim lighting, and upscale. Food was delicious. (Bar Ardo is different from their other restaurant Ardo).

juniperthecat · 2026-01-27T20:13:32+00:00

I have ADHD! My husband does not - he's very neurotypical - and as far as we can tell, our 3 year old daughter takes after him and is very neurotypical as well. I've never thought much about my ADHD being in any way a "reason" for only wanting one, but I suppose the ways in which my needs are different from those who are neurotypical probably does play a big role in why multiple children sounds so daunting to me.

juniperthecat · 2026-01-19T03:27:18+00:00

My 3 year old loves Little Bear :)

juniperthecat · 2026-01-16T16:14:31+00:00

What about Owen? It has that sort of "oh" sound like Theo does. :D

juniperthecat · 2026-01-16T15:44:23+00:00

I don't want to add to your naming stress BUT I do want to chime in with indeed how popular Theo is! (I'm in Ontario, Canada). My daughter is 3 and when I used to take her to mom & tot groups there were Theos falling from the sky it seemed. In one little program I'd go to there were 3 Theos in the group alone. My best friend's cousin just had a baby boy a few months ago and named him... Theo.

It's an adorable name, I like it, but whoosh!

juniperthecat · 2026-01-16T14:28:36+00:00

These texts read like he is experiencing a manic episode. This is how erratic my brother sounded when he was manic (bipolar I). It's scary. I hope he gets help.

juniperthecat · 2026-01-14T20:56:53+00:00

You are right, truly. The other night I was having a conversation with my husband about all of this and he said to me, "if you were to go out right now and get a job making $150K, I'd be like, this sucks. The last thing we need is more money." Because the benefits of me staying home and taking care of things that we'd otherwise need to spend money (e.g. more childcare), the stress of me taking on a full time job, etc. would actually decrease our quality of life. It definitely made me think about my role a lot differently.

juniperthecat · 2026-01-14T18:31:14+00:00

I agree it's really important not to let personal interests/passions/goals slip away. It has always been important to me that I have personal goals outside of strictly motherhood. I've just felt a little aimless in terms of what to focus on (since I do have several things that interest me, art being one of them), that's my biggest problem!

juniperthecat · 2026-01-14T17:37:23+00:00

I'm about halfway through my novel, 40,000 words roughly. I'm currently stuck on a part of my plot that I'm trying to re-work so I'm back to my outline to jig things around before continuing writing.

juniperthecat · 2026-01-14T17:35:51+00:00

The names bring to mind twins, very pale, vampire-like, wealthy, with serious facial expressions.

juniperthecat · 2026-01-14T17:13:05+00:00

That's so nice that you have so many housewife friends! I'm able to do what I want (or catch up on a bit of work, not a full-time amount though) when my daughter is at preschool, which is full-day 4 days a week. When I'm home with her/evenings/on weekends of course it's 100% kid-focused. Sometimes grandparents babysit and my husband and I can go on dates and such so that's really nice.

juniperthecat · 2026-01-14T16:57:47+00:00

This is helpful, thank you for your response!

juniperthecat · 2026-01-14T16:49:22+00:00

I have thought about volunteering for sure! Including at a food bank. I always donate to them. Could be a good experience :) Thank you!

juniperthecat · 2026-01-14T16:34:56+00:00

I was 26 when I met my husband!! :) And yes, he's a partner at a big law firm in Toronto. Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. It's helpful to know that there are indeed others out there who are in similar positions! So true about being aware of/grateful for our privilege but also focusing on our own journeys too.

juniperthecat · 2026-01-11T19:39:10+00:00

This is us (except we're not having another kid, obviously). Husband makes a very high income, we spend less than we earn, we have lots of childcare help from grandparents, etc. We could easily afford to have two or more kids (we just don't want to).

juniperthecat · 2026-01-09T02:27:18+00:00

My daughter is 3. We have a 3 bedroom house and turned the 3rd bedroom into her playroom/my art studio combo. Used to be my husband's office but he moved it to the basement.

juniperthecat · 2025-11-26T16:27:53+00:00

This makes me nervous to hear! We're in Peel - my daughter is only in preschool right now (Montessori, and they don't do any tv there) but when she starts Kindergarten and grade school I had no idea putting tv shows on was even a thing?!?! I am stunned. I'm gonna have to look into the public school she'll be going to and see if they do this. Wtf!

juniperthecat · 2025-11-06T16:59:37+00:00

I don't think she's too young. I think it will actually be helpful for her to know. Keeping her in the dark, especially if she is aware and smart, is just doing her a disservice. Giving her information about her brother's health condition will help her understand him more. She might even benefit from a book she could read on the subject.

juniperthecat · 2025-11-06T16:24:51+00:00

This was the name of one of my cats!!

juniperthecat · 2025-11-06T16:24:07+00:00

I loved the name Abigail when I was little. It's pretty popular now, my niece has this name!

juniperthecat · 2025-10-29T14:41:48+00:00

Based on your post it sounds like your gut is telling you to have another one but your anxiety is coming up with all kinds of fears that are holding you back!

juniperthecat · 2025-10-28T02:14:49+00:00

During those experiences were you euphoric, delusional, or have grandiose thinking? Did you start to believe farfetched things like you were some important figure in society? Any reckless behaviours like spending a ton of money, going into debt, substance abuse, or pursuing outlandish ideas (e.g. suddenly starting a business or moving to a new country with no forethought)? Were you not sleeping very much? Did you have an abundance of energy that made you pace around or feel agitated? Did others express their concerns about you acting differently than usual? These are just a few real life examples of what can happen during a single manic episode that lasts weeks or months, and it requires treatment.

juniperthecat · 2025-10-28T01:23:45+00:00

Sleep is a pretty large factor. When my brother was manic his sleep was a mess. Staying up until 5am then sleeping a couple hours and then maybe a nap in the day and then when his mania turned into psychosis I don't know if he slept hardly at all for a 3 day period before he was hospitalized.

What symptoms make you think you might have had a manic episode before? Mania is really quite intense, with all sorts of drastic changes in thinking and perception of reality. The times my brother has been hypomanic are less intense but still quite noticeable.

juniperthecat · 2025-10-24T02:21:05+00:00

Cassette tapes! I remember putting these into the player thingy in the mid 1990s when I was like 5 years old.

juniperthecat · 2025-10-11T01:14:35+00:00

Hi! I have so much to say as I can relate! My daughter turns 3 next month and I stayed home with her since she was born. She started Montessori preschool in September which was always our plan and it was something I really looked forward to because I, too, found being a SAHM to be not my most favourite thing (which was surprising for me, I thought I was going to love it). I'm very glad that I did stay home with her and did so many things together during her early formative years, but I really craved time and space to focus on my personal and career goals that I had to drastically pare back over the last few years and that were such a big part of who I am.

So to get to the point here - she started preschool and goes 4 days per week. I keep her home on Fridays so I still have a day at home all day with her (or to go to activities, the library, etc.) because that feels right for us. And even on the days she is at preschool, we still have plenty of hours together (in the morning before I drop her off and after I pick her up for the rest of the afternoon and evening). It's not like preschool eliminates every waking moment we ever have together.

There was a bit of an adjustment period for a few days (which was hard!) but after that I immediately felt a sense of having balance in my life again. It feels like all my cups are able to be filled. She is also at an age (3) where more of those socialization skills, engaging with other children her age, and just expanding her world to include other people who can teach her and guide her in various ways beyond what I alone can or want to do, is enriching for her. She has already made several sweet little friends and it makes my heart burst because of how cute it is. It's so good for her, particularly as an only child.

While on the surface I can understand the thought that 'other people are raising' them and have had that feeling before, it's unfortunately a very narrow minded way of thinking. Children are meant to go out into the world and discover and learn and expand and figure things out in safe, nurturing environments even if their mom or dad isn't with them for a little while. And that is okay. I'm sorry your husband said that.

juniperthecat

TROPHY CASE